It’s hard enough just to write a decent poem, so tell us, poet Elle Hope, brand-new Clark County poet laureate, why also take on the additional duties of advocacy and programming that go with this new position?
“You know, I wish I could just be a regular poet who just writes poems and enjoys that,” she says, smiling with a kind of wry self-knowledge. But that’s not who she is. “I’ve always had an appetite to do more and serve the community,” she says.
She’s been running Spotlight Poetry, an organization that puts together open mics, showcases, and slams around the valley. So the county job’s extra duties and multitasking aren’t an issue. As poet laureate, she’ll compose poems for public events as needed, speak to various groups, and promote the art and craft of poetry.
“We’re going to do a Clark County anthology,” she says. The volume will serve several purposes. It’ll showcase local talent — “We have so many different stories from different voices and perspectives, and I would love to gather those all in one space” — but it will also bring poets into the book-creation process from beginning to end, increasing their knowledge set. “As laureate, I want to make sure (poets) understand those different pathways you can take to success, however success looks for you."
In this episode of the Desert Air podcast, Hope sits down with Desert Companion Editor-at-Large Scott Dickensheets to talk about writing and promoting poetry in a city like Las Vegas, her plans as poet laureate, and how she envisions making the county position her own.
